The 1953 edition was the last one published in the volume Limits of Oceans and Seasthe text internationally accepted to name the seas and oceans of our planet. It is managed by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), But the curious thing is not that. The curious thing is why more than 70 years ago it has not been edited.
The reason, they explain In The Conversationwe find it in the conflict between Japan and South Korea by the name of a sea. Specifically, by the Japan seaits best known and popular name. In South Korea they do not agree to call it that, and since then they try to change the name to “Mar del Este”.
South Korea took the problem that created a East Sea Society 30 years ago, but the problem never solved. The IHO came to create a revised edition of its volume in 2002, but was never published.
That is the clear demonstration of how difficult it is to change the name to any geographical element in our day. At least, to change it so that it is universally accepted.
And that is what is happening these days with the controversy (another) created after Donald Trump’s decision, which He issued an executive order to call Gulf of MexicoGulf of America.
That decision could have gone unnoticed, but it has become something especially significant. Not for the decision itself, but because to make it a standard de facto (no of iure) has forced Google Maps —which announced the change Monday— And above all Apple Maps Change the name on their maps.
And if Google and Apple maps say it, the thing changes.
He does it at least for the hundreds of millions of people who use these maps, who will end up seeing how that Gulf is no longer “from Mexico”, but “of America.” The popularity of these applications is exceptional, and if something changes its name in them, users They can end up accepting it as the official name.
The problem is that it is not, because it is only in the US. But both Google and Apple have already introduced that change in their applications when they are used by US citizens there, and soon we will see all.
That, of course, does not mean that the rest of the world accepts that new denomination and continues to use the name that that Gulf has always had. They will not probably do so in Mexico, where they responded with a sneer to the decision of the US president.
His Mexican counterpart, Claudia Sherinbaum Pardo, did At a recent conference that maybe then we should Change the name to the United States to call it Mexican America. It was then that he showed a map of 1607 in which not only the Gulf of Mexico appeared as such: it is also the region now occupied by the United States was called Mexican America.
The answer is absolutely valid. Sherinbaum probably does not propose that change in Google and Apple maps for Mexicans, and even if I did, Apple and Google are North American companies and would probably not accept the change.
Be that as it may, the truth is that this change of names demonstrates how today changing the name to such important geographical areas is not easy, although Have Google and Apple from your side help.
The question, of course, is what will happen within four years, when Trump’s mandate ends. Will the Gulf of Mexico return to be the Gulf of Mexico?
Image | Daniel Torok
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